Boy that escalated quickly.
What They Say:
Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she’s sold as a lowly servant to the emperor’s palace. But she wasn’t meant for a compliant life among royalty. So when imperial heirs fall ill, she decides to step in and find a cure! This catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. Now, she’s making a name for herself solving medical mysteries!
E40 – Festering Resentment
Luomen returns to the rear palace. His observations trigger Maomao’s curiosity.
E41 – Fox Village
Suirei smuggles Maomao and Shisui out of the rear palace. Jinshi begins to search for Maomao.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Curiosity killed the cat. Or at least, got her kidnapped and whisked away into the night.
I must apologize to this series, as I didn’t realize that it was playing the long game with the concubine poisoning plot. I’m used to shows seeding info for a big payoff but I wasn’t giving Apothecary Diaries enough respect. Many detective stories go out of their way for complicated Goldbergian scenarios which play out in impossible ways. Not so here.
Watching every gleaned piece of information from the past episodes fall into place was so satisfying. I imagine it was more satisfying for light novel readers as the identity of some of these imposters wasn’t as clear. (Anime hair tends to give the game away.) Maomao’s questioning about how eunuchs are confirmed explains how Suirei managed to sneak in. Swapping herself for a corpse explains how she managed to escape in the first place, calling all the way back to when she teased Maomao about a drug that makes the dead come back to life. The secret passageway into the palace answers how Shisui was able to come and go as she pleased. It is all extremely clever.
While Maomao is putting herself in harms way Jinshi is searching for his favorite life saving apothecary. This leads him to calling in a surprise body double for the crown prince. Biological Dad susses out that one of the other high muck-a-muck’s is presumably of matriachal royal blood (so is this our assassination suspect?) while Great Uncle Dad is decoding Maomao’s hastily written SOS. I love how literally everyone is in on the detective work. Even her fellow coworkers are roped in to figuring out what might have happened.
Maomao pretends to not care about others as a safety mechanism, but she does. And they care back. Speaking of caring, it’s so tragic seeing how genuinely Lakan cares for Maomao’s mother. I wonder what life would have been like for Maomao if she had grown up in that household, who she would have become.
I’m still surprised that Shisui was in on this whole plot. Maomao only realizes too late that Shisui is an educated young woman. I figured out her true identity ages ago (thanks to anime hair and eyes) but I had no idea she knew Suirei and that they were part of the same plot. I’m guessing that we are about to learn more about their clan and the machinations of that family soon enough. It still hurts to see Shisui, who was such a fun friend, end up being a less-than-genuine one. Especially after how tenderly she reacted on the boat.
Since Maomao still draws breath I’m guessing she is being held as a bargaining chip. Her parentage can’t be that much of a secret. Or maybe she is just too dangerous to kill because that would result in Lakan going full strategist mode on their asses.
In Summary:
The slow burn up till this point has turned into a scalding boil. One reveal I was expecting, but the second I never would have guessed. An absolutely life or death situation for Maomao turns into a surprise hot springs visit. Jinshi is ready to throw down for Maomao but her Dad (or is it dads?) is only throwing shade. Maomao needs to learn to take backup if she plans of cornering a suspect. While the situation doesn’t seem so dire for her, who knows what is going on back in the palace with the expectant mother.
Episode Grades: A, A –
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
